White Cedar - Thuja Occidentalis

White Cedar

An evergreen coniferous tree, in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is widely cultivated for use as an ornamental plant. The endemic occurrence of this species is a north-eastern distribution in North America. It is thought to be the first tree of that region to be cultivated in Europe.

Northern white cedar is commercially used for rustic fencing and posts, lumber, poles, shingles and in the construction of log cabins,  White cedar is the preferred wood for the structural elements, such as ribs and planking, of birchbark canoes and the planking of wooden canoes.

The foliage of thuja is rich in Vitamin C and is believed to be the annedda which cured the scurvy of Jacques Cartier and his party in the winter of 1535–1536. Due to the neurotoxic compound thujone, internal use can be harmful and is not recommended.

The essential oil within the plant has been used for cleansers, disinfectants, hair preparations, insecticides, liniment, room sprays, and soft soaps. There are some reports that the Ojibwa made a soup from the inner bark of the soft twigs. Others have used the twigs to make teas to relieve constipation and headache.



Red Cedar - Juniperus Virginiana

Red Cedar

A species of juniper native to eastern North America, from southeastern Canada, Gulf of Mexico, east of the Great Plains. Further west, it is replaced by the related Juniperus scopulorum (Rocky Mountain Juniper), and to the southwest, by Juniperus ashei (Ashe Juniper). The Lakota Native American name is Chansha, "redwood" or Hante'. In its native range, it is commonly called "cedar" or "red cedar", names rejected by the American Joint Committee on Horticultural Nomenclature  as it is a juniper, not a true cedar.

The fine-grained, soft brittle pinkish- to brownish-red heartwood is fragrant, very light and very durable, even in contact with soil. Because of its rot resistance the wood is used for fence posts. Because the aromatic wood is avoided by moths it is in demand as lining for clothes chests and closets, often referred to as cedar closets and cedar chests. It was once a premier wood for pencils. If correctly prepared, it makes excellent English style longbows, flatbows, and Native American type sinewed bows. The wood is marketed as "eastern redcedar" or "aromatic cedar".


Native American tribes used juniper wood poles to mark out agreed tribal hunting territories. French traders named Baton Rouge, Louisiana (meaning "red stick") from the reddish color of these poles.

During the dust bowl drought in the 1930s, the Prairie States Forest Project encouraged farmers to plant shelterbelts (wind breaks) made of Eastern Juniper throughout the Great Plains. They grow well under adverse conditions. Both drought tolerant and cold tolerant, they grow well in rocky, sandy, and clay substrate. Competition between trees is minimal, so it can be planted in tightly spaced rows and the trees still grow to full height creating a solid windbreak in a short period of time.[14]

In the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks, Eastern Juniper is commonly used as a christmas tree.




Hickory - Carya Ovata

Hickory

Hickory wood is extremely tough, yet flexible, and is valued for tool handles, bows (like yew), wheel spokes, carts, drumsticks, lacrosse stick handles, golf club shafts (sometimes still called hickory stick, even though made of steel or graphite), the bottom of skis, walking canes etc. and for punitive use as a switch (like hazel), and especially as a cane-like hickory stick in schools. Baseball bats were formerly made of hickory but are now more commonly made of ash. Hickory is also highly prized for wood-burning stoves, because of its high caloric content. Hickory wood is also a preferred type for smoke curing meats. In the Southern United States, hickory is popular for cooking barbecue, as hickory grows abundantly in the region, and adds flavor to the meat. Hickory is sometimes used for hardwood flooring due to its durability and character.

A bark extract from shagbark hickory is also used in an edible syrup that is similar to maple syrup, with a slightly bitter, smoky taste.

The nuts of some species are palatable, while others are bitter and only suitable for animal feed. Shagbark and Shellbark Hickories, along with the Pecan, are regarded by some as the finest nut trees.


Black Cherry - Prunus Serotina 

Cherry

A woody plant species belonging to the genus Prunus. This cherry is native to eastern North America from southern Quebec and Ontario south to Texas and central Florida, with disjunct populations in Arizona and New Mexico, and in the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala.

The fruit is suitable for making jam and cherry pies; they are also a popular flavoring for sodas and used in many ice creams.

The timber is valuable, perhaps the premier cabinetry timber of the U.S., traded as "cherry". It is known for its strong red color and high price.

The foliage, particularly when wilted, contains cyanogenic glycosides which convert to hydrogen cyanide if eaten by animals. It is recommended that farmers remove any Black Cherry trees that fall in a field containing livestock, because the wilted leaves could poison the animals. Removal is not always practical though, because Black Cherries often grow in very large numbers on farms, taking advantage of the light brought about by mowing and grazing. Entire fencerows can be lined with this poisonous tree, making it difficult to monitor all the branches falling into the grazing area.

Black Cherry is locally naturalized in parts of Europe, having escaped from cultivation as an ornamental tree.



Black Walnut - Juglans Nigra

Black Walnut

commonly known as black walnut or American walnut, is a tree species native to eastern North America. It grows mostly alongside rivers, from southern Ontario, Canada west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern Florida and southwest to central Texas.

Black Walnut is highly prized for its dark-colored true heartwood. It is heavy and strong, yet easily split and worked. Walnut wood has historically been used for gunstocks, furniture, flooring, paddles, coffins, and a variety of other woodworking products. Due to its value, forestry officials often are called on to track down walnut poachers; in 2004, DNA testing was used to solve one such poaching case, involving a 55 foot (16m) tree worth US $2500. Black walnut has a density per cubic metre of 660kg (41.2 lb/cubic foot)[1], which makes it lighter than oak.

Sugar Maple - Acer Saccharum

Maple

A species of maple native to the hardwood forests of northeastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, and south to Georgia and Texas.

The wood is one of the hardest and densest of the maples, and is prized for furniture and flooring. Bowling alleys and bowling pins are both commonly manufactured from sugar maple. Trees with wavy wood grain, which can occur in curly, quilted and "birdseye maple" form, are especially valued. Maple is also the wood used for basketball courts, including the floors used by the NBA, and it is a popular wood for baseball bats, along with white ash.